学生代表为年轻一代发声[图]

      Shine报道 In the second year of his term as a deputy of Shanghai People’s Congress, Li Teng, a 26-year-old student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, thinks he’s started to get the hang of it.

Li Teng, a 26-year-old student from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, is pushing for student discounts on public transportation.

      As the only student deputy at the session, Li said he’s voicing the increasingly active role his generation is taking in improving social policies.

      Li, a native of Changchun city in northeast China’s Jilin Province, is the president of the Shanghai Students’ Federation.

      This covers all higher education institutions and middle school unions which encompasses millions of students.

      Elected as a deputy of the Shanghai People’s Congress at the end of 2017, Li said his role is to serve as a bridge between the city’s students and the government.

      This role has grown in the past year.

      In last year’s session, Li filed a suggestion that called for the government to offer discounts on public transportation to students following the example of some other cities in China such as Beijing.

      It was one of the most common concerns of the city’s students and it remains today, Li said.

      The city’s education commission has replied that the required discounts are not yet taken into consideration as a priority service to students.

      Li said he will continue to push for preferential benefits for the students.

      He said the government’s engagement with legislators is encouraging.

      “Just before the Two Sessions this year, the education commission held a meeting for us legislators in education, briefing us about their work and asking about our suggestions,” he said.

      This year, Li plans five suggestions which are based on some award-winning university students’ social investigation projects.

       “Besides their own benefits, the city’s students over the years have been increasingly engaged in social studies and produced high quality reports based on solid work often guided by leading professors and even commissioned by the government,” he said.

      The five suggestions touch on themes including the installation of elevators in old multi-story residential complexes, community doctor services, private nurseries, maternity facilities in Metro stations and the business of organizing primary and middle school students for overseas study trips.

     “From the projects to qualified suggestions to the government, there’s a long way between, because we have to spot the responsible government departments which could potentially solve the problem or push for a solution,” Li said.

     Li said working as a legislator brings him closer to people than before.

      “While I have always been familiar with the government’s work, now being a legislator and enabled to truly deliver expectations makes me feel that I need to tune into their thoughts instead of just listening,” he said.